DP 2 CAS Goals

 

Summer

Sluggishly the days of Distance Learning Program (DLP); waking up in the morning to a fresh serving of whatever subject was scheduled for first block, bled into summer. For the first month of summer vacation, I felt as if I was stuck in this distant dream-like state, unattached from reality and simply enjoying the freedom of having a very limited to – do list. This almost euphoric high drastically contrasted with the hustle and drive that overwhelmed me during the final week of DLP; the influx of uncompleted assignments, the threat of failing and impending struggles with university applications. After my prolonged hiatus from the academic world, the looming deadline of EE reappeared on my Managebac Calendar and my body went into overdrive. Abandoning any addictions to the freedom and laziness of June, I spent four weeks gathering information, writing and editing my Extended Essay, and similar to when I was relaxing, I did not feel the time go by. Soon I was dreading going back to school in a week and was rushing to complete my goofing off quota for the summer and then in an almost splint second, I was packing my bags for my last first day of school.

While organizing my freshly bought stationary and new notebooks into my bag, one thing kept returning to the forefront of my mind, almost as a forgotten memory that had finally resurfaced; It’s already been a year since I packed my bag for the first day of school. Right then, I could faintly remember the excited giddiness flooding me as I hurriedly packed my bag for my first day as a DP student. I hadn’t noticed how my body mimicked a similar energy when I packed this time and another thought jumped at me; this is the last time you will be doing this!  The realization of August 12^th 2020, being the last first day of school quietly dissolved my initial ecstasies and made it into something of a bittersweet moment; I was both hopeful for and fearful of the future. On my way to school last week I thought back to what my biggest takeaways from last year was and this thought jumped further into my memory matrix to find last year’s buried CAS goals. Thinking on it, I realized that my goals last year aren’t very different from what I aspire to be this year, as I know that I am constantly growing and accustomed to change. I remember thinking ‘Tabula Rasa’, since I am yet to reach my potential and my previous goals and newly acquired empirical tools, somewhat modified, would help me reach that.

Creativity

Similar to last year, I hope to reflect the creative facet of my identity by being actively involved with Colombo Model United Nations, however this year having graduated to Secretary General. I understand that a range of logistical limitations will be posed due to the implications of COVID-19, however I am positive if the traditional COMUN is transformed into something more adaptable and safer, then my plan has the potential to blossom into fruition. Unlike last year, my role as SG and primary administrator would employ me more control on the logistics and planning of both the conference and other matters. Therefore, my primary goal this is year is to persevere and maintain my composure under the threat of looming problems and obstacles, while fulfilling the role of SG to the best of my potential. Accompanying this goal, more specifically I will strive to be organized and structured in both my thinking and my work, thereby allowing for a smooth execution of different concepts and ideas. Another sub goal that is an inherent byproduct of my role with COMUN is to gather a versatile arsenal of skills that can be used for opportunities in the future. Somewhat as an umbrella or overarching notion, my involvement in COMUN allows me valuable exposure to tackling real world issues and finding pragmatic solutions to combat current discrepancies that plague society.

Outside of the OSC curriculum, I hope to engage in an activity that is both a mixture of creativity and service; continuing my tutoring practice and extending my services into arts and crafts as well. Although over the summer, I have mostly been focusing on the academic side of tutoring as that is what the students’ parents were looking for, as an extra service I hope to provide an optional arts and crafts section to engage their more creative and artistic skills, and allow them a safe space for them to experiment with various styles.

Activity

Balancing my creative and academic efforts, I hope to continue to improve and grow in the physical aspect of my life as well. Although, SAISA swimming, TISSL and The National Championships, have been cancelled as a precautionary deterrent, I still hope to practice and train privately to maintain my personal growth. Although I stated that last year I achieved my goal of improving my mentality and attitude towards failure in the swimming arena, I realized that I am yet to fully attain that outlook, thereby convincing myself to add that goal to these years’ targets. Thus, my first goal is geared towards enhancing my mentality to ‘losing’, as I feel that I constantly forget the importance of mistakes in terms of developing one’s self as well-rounded person. Overall, I wish to the transfer my newly formed mentality and important skills further in life. Secondly, supplementing my primary sport of swimming, I engrained the act of working out at the gym for two hours between 5 – 7, into my daily routine as I hope to not just reach the fitness level of last year, but transcend it. Although these year’s targets for fitness are significantly more difficult than the last, I hope to maintain my perseverance and resilience when completing this goal.

Service

Rehabilitation Center for the Communication Impaired (RCCI), is a service group that I have been actively involved in for five years; inclusive of being leader for a year. In Sri Lanka, speech and language disorders were often perceived as a taboo and stigmatized topic and therefore hidden under the limelight until 1993, in which the government sought to rectify this issue by creating RCCI. This focal point of this service is to provide speech and language therapy to those affected by interacting with them, especially focusing on improving their social skills and most importantly, supporting them through their journey of learning. As such, this service provides a di-pronged tactic in terms of education as not only do the cognitive and non – cognitive skills of the RCCI students improve but students from OSC heighten their emotional sensitivity and improve their ‘people’ skills as a byproduct of being a part of the program.

Due to the limitations connected to COVID – 19, interactions with the students of RCCI in our weekly sessions on Thursday have been discontinued, so our members had to be both creative and pragmatic on how we spend our time. During our first meeting, I hope to re-evaluate and assess the situation, while looking for methods to approach the children in a virtual fashion. Given that RCCI did not reach the targets of last year, mainly in terms of executing the plan to design and sell T-shirts with the RCCI brand as a method of raising awareness, the same goals of advocacy written last year will still be followed this year, as well. This service isn’t particularly well known within the school committee as we are yet to hold any fundraises or marketing campaigns to gain endorsements to better the lives of the students, therefore this year I plan to organize three fundraisers; Winter Gala, Food and Fun Fair and Spring Gala. Through my close analysis of past leaders of RCCI, it is evident that marketing the service in terms of creating a signature brand that is memorable to those with a deep interest within the cause is lacking, and as such is long overdue. I plan to implement this goal by asking the OSC student population to design a logo for RCCI that we can paste on brand merchandise such as T-shirts and hoodies, in order to publicize the service itself and broadcast the positive impact created for the students. Therefore, with student involvement an immersive experience could be created thereby fostering interest within the community.

Furthermore, in terms of a private ‘service’ goal, I have been working on a project to raise awareness of the marginalized communities of low – income families in Sri Lanka, with special emphasis on women and children. This projected stemmed from a passion that I have internalized since its inception in Grade 5, where for a small scale ‘Exhibition’, I had to take action on an issue that I was passionate about and take some form of action. My overall impact was minimal, given that after thorough research and personal interaction with those affected, I wrote an open letter to the then President of Sri Lanka, requesting an increase in spousal support for victims of domestic violence. Although the amount only changed by Rs.100, the notion that I had even sparked a change inspired me to do more for this community. As such, my personal project was an extension of this issue as after a nine month researching period, I created a collection of short stories representing the real life struggles of Low income families in Sri Lanka. Therefore, currently I am working on officially publishing my book as an effort to raise awareness within the local community.